Bhakti Chaitanya Swami is a Gaudiya Vaishnava swami

Swami

A swami sometimes abbreviated "Sw." is an ascetic or yogi who has been initiated into the religious monastic order founded by Adi Sankara, or to a religious teacher.The Oxford English Dictionary gives the etymology as...

 and a religious leader of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness

International Society for Krishna Consciousness

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness , known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava religious organization. It was founded in 1966 in New York City by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada...

 (also known as the Hare Krishna movement or ISKCON). He is a member of the Governing Body Commission

Governing Body Commission

The Governing Body Commission is the managerial authority of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness . ISKCON's founder, A.C...

 and is the leader of ISKCON in South Africa, the Baltic states

Baltic states

The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...

 and Russia.

Bhakti Chaitanya Swami was born as Richard Naismith on 14 August 1951 in Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

, New Zealand. In 1972 he first met ISKCON's founder A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was a Gaudiya Vaishnava teacher and the founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, commonly known as the "Hare Krishna Movement"...

 in Auckland University. A year later he joined ISKCON in London and received initiation from Swami Prabhupada, who gave him a sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 name Raghubhir Dasa.

Bhakti Caitanya Swami is closely associated with the educational programs of ISKCON and teaches courses at the Vaisnava Institute for Higher Education in Vrindavana. In 1994, during the Gaura Purnima Festival, he took the renounced order of sannyasa

Sannyasa

Sannyasa is the order of life of the renouncer within the Hindu scheme of āśramas, or life stages. It is considered the topmost and final stage of the ashram systems and is traditionally taken by men or women at or beyond the age of fifty years old or by young monks who wish to renounce worldly...

 from Giriraja Swami

Giriraja Swami

Giriraj Swami is an initiating guru within the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and one of the leading disciples of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON.-Background:...

 and received the name Bhakti Caitanya Swami. Later he became a member of the Governing Body Commission and ISKCON Guru

ISKCON Guru System

ISKCON guru is permitted to initiate disciples in the system that is being used in International Society for Krishna Consciousness; this ISKCON Guru System has undergone a considerable evolution and reform since its beginnings in 1970s...

.